Great! - Even for More Than a Month

books:

	• Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days Victoria Lynn Schmidt Writers Digest Books, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great for structure/motivation

The concept of this book appealed to me, so I put it on my wish list, and thankfully one of my friends bought it for me. I love it! I'm the world's worst procrastinator and start far more projects than I finish, so this type of scheduled structure was very good for me. There is a short section for each of the 30 days with your objective and usually some sort of worksheet, and all the worksheets are collected in the back of the book (larger versions with more room to write). The author included some effective motivational rhetoric, especially the part about fighting our resistance to starting and/or finishing a project. I actually managed to write a rough draft of a novella (in 45, rather than 30, days) using the worksheets and guidelines in the first half of the book, many of which sparked additional ideas for my story. I plan to finish reading the book while working on a rewrite. There is also an accompanying Yahoo group (mentioned in the book) that, if you wish to join, will e-mail you daily with a very pared down version of your goal for that day, and which provides a forum for people using the system to support each other and a place to post your goals and achievements.

I will agree with a couple of the other reviewers that some terms are not well explained (like "reversal"). I can guess what she means by this and other terms, but it would be nice if they were more explicitly defined. Still, I've found this book incredibly useful and effective for my purposes. If you already have story ideas, but have trouble motivating yourself all the way through a project, this might be the book for you.

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Great Concept; Execution Needs Work

Who wouldn't want to write a book in a month? My first novel manuscript took over a year for the first draft, so this workbook was appealing just for the timeframe. But BIAM also drew me in for the focus on structure and organization. I gave it the Read-Til-I-Drop-Or-Buy test. It seemed just what I was looking for... BIAM delivers on it's promise to provide a schedule and worksheets to organize myself. Everything fits in one place. I like the spiral binding. The stickers are cute if not completely useful. The motivational discussion at the front is spot-on. However, BIAM slips in the connection between story structure outlining and the actual writing. I find I want more discussion and examples of how story structure works... Act I Turning Point, Act II temporary triumph and reversal. You won't find the depth here you might need on these concepts (the author has other books for that!). Still, I'm trying to follow her advice to write "as if" I had everything figured out and trust I'll understand Act II and III structure better when I get there. BIAM would have earned my fifth star had it simplified the story structure outline worksheets, gone into more depth on the concepts, or put the Act II and III outlining later in the course. If you are well-versed in story structure concepts, BIAM will be a great tool to keep you organized.

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Good for starting your book

This workbook was good for starting my writing process. I did not complete anything in 30 days but it started my creative juices. If you follow every single day to the letter, you still will not complete a book in a month that will be worth anyone's time to read. Still, I would recommend this to a first time writer that is having trouble beginning the writing process. It will give you a place to start.

Definitely useful

Well, I got this book 3 weeks ago because I was finally going to bite the bullet and power through writing a book and I needed the tight deadline and accompanying rigid discipline something like this demands.

My first impression: It's fantastic, exciting, and exactly what I was looking for. The book and it's author Schmidt give quite a lot of inspiration with an angle only a book like this can have. Really, all writer-motivating books promise some sort of personal fulfillment through writing, but this is the first one I've read that puts that goal solidly within reach (30 days out). Plus, the book is meant to be a structuring guide through the process, with places to note things like subplot ideas, character sketches, story outline as well as day-by-day exercises meant to take you closer to your goal.

The difference between this BIAM and the NANOWRIMO one is that it's intended to give you something incredibly solid and usable by the end. Baty's NANO is more about an explosion of creative productivity and this one is about ordering chaos. Both lead you to a "book" in 30 days. Schmidt's makes sure your book has a solid 3 act structure that adheres to the most successful conventions of storytelling.

Why only 3 stars? Well, I'm now on day three and I haven't been able to force myself through one page of the workbook section. I read the inspirational lead in (about 64 pages), got caught up in the NANOWRIMO excitement, and now I can't stop writing long enough to follow the exercises and fill in the blanks in the book. It frankly scares me too much with it's structure and guidelines. I don't want to direct my novel-writing energy to filling out its worksheets and answering its questions.

But I can say that if I DID, I know it would improve my work and seriously help. Also, if I was having a hard time keeping track of all my ideas or focusing them into a narrative arc, this book would solve that easily.

I think this would be much better for a person's second attempt at a 30-day novel. But seriously worth the money for the inspirational intro, and the possibility of using this as a rewrite guide when i'm done (one of its intended uses).

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Great! - Even for More Than a Month

This unique book makes writing fun. As you can see with the "Search Inside" feature, there are around 50 worksheets to fill out on all the details of your novel. If you fill in the blanks, you're guaranteed to have an outline for a fleshed-out, compelling story. The book is also very inspirational, with tips on how to avoid resistance (psychological reasons for why we might allow ourselves to procrastinate) and asking you to really think about why accomplishing your goal of writing a novel is important to you. And for some reason, just the act of writing into the actual book with my story details made the project seem more serious and provides a great place to jot down every detail. With all that said, this is an excellent book for any writing project, even if you don't plan to write it in 30 days, but it's even more exciting if you do decided to go for it. Good luck!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

What Can You Accomplish in 30 Days? If you make time to write and put away all of your excuses, could you stay on track and finish your novel in only a month? With a structured plan and a focused goal, yes, you can!

Using a combination of flexible weekly schedules, focused instruction, and detailed worksheets, author Victoria Schmidt leads you through a proven 30-day novel-writing system without the intimidation factor. Book in a Month shows you how to: Set realistic goals and monitor your progress Manage your time so that your writing life has room to flourish Select a story topic that will continue to inspire you throughout the writing process Quickly outline your entire story so that you have a clear idea of how your plot and characters are going to develop before you start writing Draft each act of your story by focusing on specific turning points Keep track of the areas you want to revise without losing your momentum in the middle of your story Relax and have fun--you are, after all, doing something you love So what are you waiting for? If you've been putting off your book project, let Book in a Month be your guide and find out just how much you can accomplish.

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